A computer lab that Escondido officials are proposing for part of the defunct East Valley library branch would have 35 work stations, be open four days a week and charge no admission fee.

The proposal, which the City Council is scheduled to discuss Wednesday, was praised Monday by the council members as a cost-effective way to restore Internet access for eastern Escondido's many elderly and low-income residents without reopening the library, which closed last June to help shrink a projected budget deficit.

Annual operating costs for the computer lab would be $80,000, compared with $192,000 per year the city was spending on the branch.

"We want it to be a model of how to reduce employee costs but still give the public access to information," said Councilwoman Marie Waldron, adding that she hoped the lab would help promote Escondido as a technology-oriented community.

But critics said Monday that a computer lab would be inferior to a comprehensive library featuring books and creating opportunities for community interaction. They also said the lab should be open longer hours than envisioned in the proposal, which calls for service from noon to 6 p.m. every Monday through Thursday.

"If it was open 12 hours a day I'd be impressed," said Councilwoman Olga Diaz, the only member of the council to
vote against
the library closure last spring. "Anybody who's ever been a student knows that nights are when most of the work gets done."

Jerry Van Leeuwen, who oversees the city's libraries as director of community services, said the proposed hours aimed to make the lab available to students during after-school hours, but that they could be easily adjusted. He also said that a schedule of 24 hours per week was chosen because that's how many hours the branch had been open.

Mayor Sam Abed said the proposed hours would only be a starting point.

"We'll grow from there," Abed said. "In the long run, I'd like to see both the computer lab and the main library open every day."

City officials explored charging a
nominal admission fee
to cover subscriptions to some online databases and some of the estimated $137,000 in equipment and renovation costs to create the lab.

But Van Leeuwen said that idea was discarded, partly because of the hassles involved with collecting payments and issuing receipts.

Some of the estimated $80,000 in annual operating costs could be covered by renting the lab to private groups for computer tutorials, but Van Leeuwen said he doubted the city would come close to breaking even.

The annual operating costs would include $19,000 for a part-time worker supervising the lab, and $61,000 for computer licenses, maintenance and security.

Estimated operating costs would be $25,000 higher if Cox Communications hadn't agreed to donate all the Internet connections for the first five years the lab is open, Van Leeuwen said.

The proposed $137,000 in construction costs would be partly covered by $75,000 in recreation reserves the council set aside last year. Van Leeuwen said there were a variety of options to cover the rest.

Construction costs would include $9,000 for a front door, $9,000 for carpeting, $6,000 for a security camera and $5,000 for a teachers interactive white board at the front of the lab. The lab would occupy 1,500 square feet of the 10,000-square-foot branch, with a private company expected to lease the remainder.

If the council approves the proposal Wednesday, Van Leeuwen said, the lab could open by June.

Joanne Greenberg, the city's head librarian, said the lab would help shorten wait times for the 43 computer terminals available at the main branch, which is a few miles west at Kalmia Street and Second Avenue. She said average wait times had climbed since the branch closed.

Roy Garrett, leader of a resident group that
opposed
the branch library closure, said group members were still frustrated that residents in East Valley had no library. He said the group, Escondido's Future, was exploring a
possible revival
of the city's bookmobile to help serve that area.